


Catastrophe, Consequences, Clash

by laireshi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Getting Back Together, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tony Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-28 20:18:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14456958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laireshi/pseuds/laireshi
Summary: INFINITY WAR SPOILERSIt was anything but a surprise then, when, finally, Steve took Tony’s face into his hands and kissed him like he’d never kissed him before; no more secrets between them in this new universe which survived the apocalypse.“I think, even after everything,” Steve whispered against Tony’s lips, “I know you, Tony Stark.” He stepped away. “If you think you can see a way, you’ll find it. You’ll save them. You’ll saveus.”





	Catastrophe, Consequences, Clash

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [灾难，后果，冲突 Catastrophe, Consequences, Clash](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14568963) by [fangxia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangxia/pseuds/fangxia)



> Also a fill for my Stony bingo card, square "Enigma", and my MCU Stony bingo card, square: Avengers Infinity War.
> 
> "Chose not to warn" because of the canonical char deaths from IW that I didn't want to spoil in tags.
> 
> (as a side note, title is a few tracks from the CACW soundtrack)

_He did it_.

He gave the kid the suit. He took him to the fight in Berlin and he kept interfering in his life. It was Tony’s fault, just like Peter said, and it was Peter and not Tony paying for it.

Tony’s eyesight was blurry, but he could still clearly see Peter turning to ashes.

That fucking wizard had _promised_ he’d protect the Time Stone.

Tony had had six years to plan, and yet it came to this.

“Get up.”

Tony looked up. The blue maybe-an-android woman was looking down at him.

“What for?” he asked. He’d worked so hard, he’d sacrificed everything to try to be ready, and he still lost.

It was over.

She ran here eyes over him, then turned away. “Then die here,” she said. “Like they all did. I won’t let Thanos get away with it.”

_You can be damn sure we’ll avenge it_ , Tony remembered from what felt like another life.

Were all the Avengers gone too? Was Rhodey? Pepper? Steve . . . ?

Tony tried to get up, but the pain from his stomach sent him right back to his knees. He pressed his hand against the wound and spat blood.

He might have no choice about dying here, it seemed. He’d thought the armour nanotech fixed him up, but all his systems were shot. A selfish part of him wished he’d died before his friends did, before the nightmare that had made him build Ultron came true.

Cold hands pulled him up.

“Earth,” Tony whispered, but he wasn’t sure his lips form the words.

Everything was darkness and pain.

***

_Tokyo is falling. London burns. New York is ashes already._

_“You could’ve saved us,” Steve says._

_Tony reaches for him, but the moment he gets close enough to touch, Steve turns to dust._

***

Tony sat up, coughing, almost immediately fell back down, the pain in his midsection too much to bear.

A nightmare, he told himself, just a nightmare—

“Stay still,” the blue woman snapped. “There’s a stasis field over the med table.”

Tony ran his eyes over his surroundings, the alien-looking tech, and the realisation was more painful than the stab wound in his stomach.

It _wasn’t_ a nightmare. It was worse than that.

***

The trapdoor opened with a hiss. Nebula helped Tony up. He hadn’t thought to ask where they were going, half-conscious for most of the trip, and did it matter anyway? Half of the universe was _gone_. He truly was the Merchant of Death.

The air felt familiar after the suffocating air of Titan.

Walking, even with help, felt like an enormous effort.

“ _Tony!_ ”

He stumbled and a new pair of arms caught him, held him up.

_Steve_.

For two years, Tony’s woke up from nightmares where Steve brought the shield down on his neck instead. Now, seeing him, all he felt was relief.

Apparently living through the end of the world did funny things to you.

***

Tony woke up with a weird sensation to his body. It took him a moment to realise it was the lack of pain that seemed off. He was lying in a futuristic looking chamber, and for a moment he thought that the return to Earth _was_ a dream, but no: Rhodey was in a chair next to his bed.

“Welcome back, Tones,” he said, tired and unmistakably, wonderfully _alive_.

“Rhodey,” Tony said, and then, “Peter’s dead,” and then Rhodey was hugging him tight.

***

Steve was hovering outside of Tony’s door.

“What, there’s not enough rooms in the Wakandan palace?” Tony quipped, but it fell flat.

He hadn’t seen Steve since Nebula landed them on Earth and Shuri stitched him back together. He didn’t know how to talk to him. They weren’t friends anymore.

They had never been friends, Tony reminded himself. Lovers, yes, Steve couldn’t deny _that_. But not friends.

“Bruce called me,” Steve said suddenly. “From New York. I saw the phone ring and I hoped it was you.”

“Sorry I’m always disappointing, Rogers,” Tony said.

They shouldn’t argue now. They should fight _together_ , not each other. Thanos killed half of the universe. Why did this, whatever it was between Tony and Steve, still matter?

Tony knew, instinctively, or maybe he just hoped that in a battlefield he’d work with Steve seamlessly.

This wasn’t a battlefield, though, not yet.

“I feel like it was me who disappointed you,” Steve says softly. “I am sorry.”

“I know.” Tony looked down. “It’s in the past,” he lied. “We have other problems now.” The truth that they didn’t want to face.

“We might need to fix that past to go forward,” Steve said.

Something clicked in Tony’s mind. “That’s _it_!” he exclaimed.

Steve frowned. “Tony?”

“Fix the past,” Tony said urgently. “The Time Stone. It must exist in many timelines. If we can just get to one—get a chance at fixing it all—”

Tony’d been sure he’d never feel hope again, but here it was, a dangerous seed. But he owed it to everyone, to Peter, to make it right. Strange sacrificed the Time Stone for Tony’s life. Tony should do something useful with it.

“We had hoped for survival at best,” Steve admitted. “Trying to keep everything running with half the population. You . . .”

“You promised me once,” Tony said, almost feverish. “You said, _Together_.”

A pained expression ran through Steve’s face. “I meant it,” he said.

He broke it, too. But . . . “I need you to work with me now,” Tony insisted. “I need you at my side.”

“Yes,” Steve said. No hesitation, just certainty. Something almost like trust.

Tony couldn’t deal with it. “Find Shuri,” he said. “I’ll get Bruce.”

Steve tilted his head and stayed right there, like he was considering something.

Tony’s heartbeat was wild and loud in his own ears. He could plan how to save the world, an impossible plan based on non-existent technology, but he was a genius, he was standing in Wakanda, and Wong was still alive. Tony would employ magic if that was what it took.

But standing here with Steve, this seemed the hardest part of all, and yet, the most vital, too.

Because Tony couldn’t do it alone.

And he didn’t trust Steve again, not yet, not _personally_. But he trusted him to be a hero. He trusted him to keep standing, his back to Tony’s back, for as long as was necessary. He trusted Steve not to give up, and make sure Tony wouldn’t, either.

They won’t lose together, now. They’ll _win together_. Because they had no other option.

It was anything but a surprise then, when, finally, Steve took Tony’s face into his hands and kissed him like he’d never kissed him before; no more secrets between them in this new universe which survived the apocalypse.

“I think, even after everything,” Steve whispered against Tony’s lips, “I know you, Tony Stark.” He stepped away. “If you think you can see a way, you’ll find it. You’ll save them. You’ll save _us_.”

This, Steve’s intense faith, was new, but they all lived through so much.

“I’m glad you’re alive,” Tony said, and it was ridiculously understated, but he couldn’t make himself admit more.

“You too,” Steve said.

Tony’s lips were tingling from the kiss, but he was already planning: different timelines, different universes. A multitude of options. Strange saw millions of them, and just one where they win.

Now it was down to Tony to deliver the solution. And he would. He wouldn’t fail again.

He was an Avenger.

 


End file.
